The subject matter disclosed herein relates to fuel nozzles and more specifically, to fuel nozzles for gas turbine combustors.
In general, gas turbines combust a mixture of compressed air and fuel within a combustor to produce hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases rotate blades of the turbine to rotate a shaft that drives a load, such as an electrical generator. Fuel nozzles within the combustor inject fuel and air into the combustor. In some designs, the fuel nozzles include one or more mixing tubes that pre-mix the fuel and air before the fuel and air enters the combustion zone. For example, the mixing tubes may be employed to mix a gaseous fuel with air. However, the fuel nozzles may not be designed to direct liquid fuel through the mixing tubes. For example, the mixing tubes may become clogged by liquid fuel due to the small size of the mixing tubes.